Behind the Name… Shakespeare said: ‘What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”. Well, Metis’s wild roses certainly do smell sweet, but we think that place names at least do have special meanings to people who grew up in an area. Local residents provide the most useful geographical reference system referring to a place, a piece of land, or a natural landmark. The consistency and accuracy of names used becomes essential in referring to a place or landmark, which helps to prevent confusion in a specific area. Whether it be verbal or written, past or present, place names of lands, bodies of water, or landmarks connect us to each other and to our past. The names also may evidence an event in certain places, as well as providing generations with a link to folklore tales and legends that have been passed down – narratives that explain the origins of place names in a community. Although today the origin of many place names is now forgotten, it is often possible to establish likely meanings through consideration of early forms of ancestors' names. This summary has been prepared from sources to be reliable; if you have additional information or corrections, please contact Pam Andersson, Heritage Lower Saint Lawrence Community Liaison & Archive Coordinator, [email protected]; (418) 936-3239, ext. 221. Place Names of Lands Land is a particular geographical location of ground with reference to its nature or composition. Some can be seen from a distance and the name describes the place, while others have a less visible, but no less significant historical event behind their name. Landmarks enable us to establish location, which makes other places easier to recognize in relation to the landmarks. Many places in Metis are named after early families’ surnames, such as the individuals’ place of residence, or of lands that they held in specific locations. But some date back further to indigenous peoples who preceded by millennia the Europeans who recorded that they ‘discovered’ North America. 1. Metis, Grand-Metis, Petit-Metis, Metis Beach, Mitis River/Rivière-Mitis There are different thoughts about the source of the name Metis (Mitis), and it does not come, as many think, from Métis – having ancestry from indigenous and European parents or the more restrictive Métis National Council General Assembly definition of “… a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation” (a definition intended to exclude those not from “the historic Northwest during the course of the 18th and 19th centuries”. Nor does it come from the painter Matisse as at least one visitor surmised! The word Metis/Mitis in the Lower Saint Lawrence area is, however, almost certainly an indigenous word: • Mitioui, a native word for ‘’meeting place’’ at the mouth of the Mitis River—an important place where First Nations congregated to fish for salmon • Mitisk, Mi’kmaq for ‘little birch’ due to the plentiful birch trees at the mouth of the Mitis River • Moitié (much less likely), French for ‘half’, if early French explorers thought of the spot as halfway between Gaspé and Quebec City. Whatever the name’s derivation, recent archaeological discoveries confirm Indigenous peoples frequented the mouth of the Mitis River over 6,000 years ago while people of European derivation are recorded as having lived year-round in the area for just over 200 years. Many people in the area – permanent and summer residents, francophone and anglophone – simply refer to Metis as the general area of the once Seigneurie de Mitis and what it got divided into – Grand Métis and Petit Métis (Little Metis), its successors (Metis Beach/Métis-sur-Mer, Sandy Bay/Baie-des-Sables and Les Boules), and surrounding villages and areas. Metis is regularly used as a short form, understood depending on speaker and context. 2. Cascade Road Cascade Road, also known as "Skid Row" to the locals, was once a dirt road that connected the Boule Rock Road through Astle properties to Cascade Road, then to part of the Cascade Golf Course (later the Cascade Golf & Tennis Club) on to Station Road. The name does not, as some people believe, derive ironically from skid row, meaning an impoverished area in North America that is home to people ‘on the skids’ – the poor, the homeless, or, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “a district of cheap saloons and flophouses frequented by vagrants and alcoholics.” In fact, skid row or skid road derives from a logging term dating to the late 17th century and referring to a path or road through the woods along which logs were skidded or dragged. The Astle family once owned much of the land in the vicinity and had a sawmill, which was used to plane tree trunks into planks for constructing many of the buildings and other structures in the area. Did you know… ? Some roads in the vicinity were known as ‘corduroy roads.’ This was likely because the logs laid to help carts and carriages over boggy ground, were placed side by side, perpendicular to the road, resembling the thick, cotton material of the same name, with its corded or ridged surface. In the past, one corduroy road could be found on the ‘Scotch Second’ (second concession), connecting to the third range and St. Octave. Bovey women examine corduroy road, circa early 1900 (Courtesy: Bovey/Amsden) 3. Kempt Road While his ships linked the Metis Seigniory with Quebec City, Montreal and other ports, Macnider also pioneered roadbuilding in the Lower St. Lawrence region. He is attributed with persuading Sir James Kempt, Governor of British North America (1828 to 1830), to build the first road (later named in his honour) from the Lower Saint Lawrence region via the Matapedia valley to the area around Cross Point in the Baie-des-Chaleurs (or "bay of warmth", in stark contrast to Metis’s chilly waters!). From there it continued on to the Maritime provinces. This was a strategic decision to build a route further from the America border following the War of 1812 between the United States and Canada. Thanks to Macnider’s influence, the road departed from Grand-Métis and the road additionally brought new residents north to the Metis area. This extensive project was in a fair way to being realized when John Macnider passed away, and with his death came a new era for the seigneury. The Kempt Road was only roughly constructed and, until 1840, was barely passable. The couriers who carried the mail and the official dispatches from Metis to the Restigouche used foot or horses until it snowed, and then would travel by dog sleds or snowshoes. In 1845, Donald McLaren of Metis carried the mail leaving Ristigouche on Monday mornings for Metis. He often carried 30 to 35 pounds in his mailbag. Arriving back in Ristigouche on Saturday during the night, his mailbag was equally heavy. He walked 195¾ miles every week, rain or shine, on foot or on snowshoes. The heavy and endless snowstorms of January 1845 took their toll on him. Upon his arrival at Metis on January 15, 1845, he was forced to rest for six days because of extreme fatigue before resuming his duties. His partial recuperation was due to the kind care and attention of the Postmaster, William Page, the son of Henry Page and Margaret Prevoux of Metis. We learn, thanks to Ken Annett, from an obituary carried in the Miramichi Gleaner, that Donald McLaren of Metis had carried the mail for 18 months on the Kempt Road until his death on January 28, 1845, near Restigouche. However, many others died along this road, due to the cold weather, and others by drowning. The Government established four posts along the road to assist travelers. One was on the St. Pierre River at the head of Lake Matapedia just outside the present village of Sayabec. The keeper of this post was Pierre Brochu, who lived there from 1833 until his death in 1871. Pierre Brochu was the father of the first Brochu to establish himself at Metis and became progenitor of all the Brochus of the area. Starting in 1860, the Matapedia Road began to replace parts of the Kempt Road and by 1867 the Matapedia Road was completed. For more about the building of the Kempt Road, please read Metisian Ken Annett’s account. 4. Grier's Hill Mr. George Grier, a lumber merchant, first came to Metis with his family around 1889 and rented the Ferguson Manor House out on Lighthouse Road close to Ferguson Bay. The Griers rented for five years and they claimed that the Manor House was haunted by a "horse and buggy". In 1894, Mr. Grier bought land and built "Summerholme", now the Rioux home on the south side of what was then Tuggey's Hill, named for the Tuggey family who once owned land in the vicinity. George Grier then bought the land on the north side of the hill and had two homes built for his daughters around 1904. These homes on the north side are still owned by the Grier family, explaining why Tuggey’s Hill is now known as Grier’s Hill. Grier’s Hill 5. Eagle Point Eagle Point is named after the eagles that nested on Eagle Rock many years ago. Today, Rod Mathewson owns the house at Eagle Point. The home is old and so is the road to the home. Anne-Louise Mathewson did some research on the home and mentioned that it was like a jigsaw puzzle.